I am often asked at the end of a class at The Chopping Block, “What is your favorite class to teach?” and my answer is always the same. I love any class that has a global theme. Why? Food has the power to bring people together through conversation, overlapping use of ingredients, and the passing down of recipes from generation to generation. I love playing with spices, learning new techniques, and appreciating the knowledge and perspective gained from recipes that hail from different parts of the world.
This week, I was craving a recipe from Northern Africa: a comforting tomato sauce dish with warm spices, fresh vegetables, topped with poached eggs and garnished with fresh herbs and cheese. Shakshouka.
The Arabic word translates to “all mixed up” and typically consists of a few basic ingredients: a can of crushed tomatoes, red, yellow or green bell peppers, a yellow onion, garlic, cumin and paprika, cayenne or chili flakes for heat, topped with eggs and garnishes including feta cheese and parsley or dill. The dish comes together in one heavy, wide dish that ideally has a lid for easily poaching the eggs. It packs a ton of warm, comforting flavor in one, delicious bite. Its versatility makes it a lovely breakfast, lunch or dinner that is easily shareable.
Start by heating a heavy, wide pan over medium-low heat with a couple glugs of EVOO until it shimmers. Add your sliced onions and peppers of choice, and cook until lightly caramelized. You’re looking for softened vegetables with a nice amount of browning around their edges. We have plenty of knife skills classes coming up if you need to sharpen up on those slicing skills. Season the onions and peppers with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili flakes or cayenne (or both) and stir to combine.
Next, add your minced garlic until you can smell it, about 30 seconds or so. Add the can of crushed tomatoes, then add a splash of water to the emptied can to clean out the can and add that to the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil and drop it down to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Once the sauce is done simmering, use the back of a spoon to make wells for each of your eggs. Typically, you’ll want to use one egg per person. Create your wells and crack an egg into each. To prevent any shells from getting in your sauce, crack the egg into a small bowl first and then pour it into the well. Repeat for each egg.
Once all of the eggs are in, cover the pot and turn the heat down to low. Cook time can vary between 5-10 minutes depending on how you like your eggs cooked. Set, jammy yolks typically take up to 10 minutes, whereas runny eggs are around 5-6. Once the eggs reach your desired doneness, remove the lid and garnish with feta cheese and your choice of herbs. If you want a real kick, garnish with dots of harissa, a fiery North African roasted pepper paste.
Now you’re ready to serve! I recommend dipping some toasted French bread into this to get every inch of tomato sauce out of that pan; you won’t regret it.
Shakshouka
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 green, yellow or red pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoky paprika, sweet or hot
1/2 to 1 tsp red chili flakes or ground cayenne pepper
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
4 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp fresh parsley or dill, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional garnish: Harissa paste
- Heat a heavy, wide pan with EVOO and add sliced onions and sliced peppers, cook until lightly caramelized. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili flakes or cayenne (or both) and stir to combine).
- Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the can of crushed tomatoes. Add a splash of water to the can to clean out the remaining bits and add to the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil and drop down to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Once the sauce has been simmering for 20 minutes, use the back of a spoon to make four wells. Crack an egg into each well. Cover the pot and turn the heat down to low. Cook to desired egg doneness*
- Once the eggs reach your desired doneness, remove the lid and garnish with feta cheese and your choice of herbs. Serve hot.
*NOTE: Cook time can vary between 5-10 minutes depending on how you like your eggs cooked. Set jammy yolks are typically up to 10 minutes, whereas runny eggs are around 5-6.
Get inspired by some of our global fare in our upcoming classes:
